Future doesn’t look very good

I suspect for many readers the financial problems the pier finds itself in and the unfortunate notices of redundancy may come as a surprise given the short period of time it’s been open.

However if you position the revamped Hastings Pier against Eastbourne or Brighton piers, the difference is that Hastings Pier has very little on it to attract visitors.

It’s not just down to poor summer weather. A seaside pier needs to function as a viable financial business model 360 days of the year so must have all-year-round attractions on it.

Maybe I’m looking at it too simplistically – even harshly given all the work and commitment given by so many people over recent years to get it to where it is today – but it’s clear without a significant change in direction the future is not good.

Regarding the above article and following along a similar theme of seaside attractions – the thought of a major redevelopment of the scale put forward at the east end of the town. I’m sorry but I find the notion that HBC would even consider it as a viable project beggars belief. This constant obsession with the Old Town is unbelievable, yet at the west end a large area of seafront lies dormant, a wasted area for over 30 years. You would be hard pushed to travel along the seafront from Hastings to Eastbourne even beyond, to find an area the size of West Marina in such a similar condition. Just where the West Marina terminology comes into it I don’t know – it looks anything but a marina.

I have lived at this end of the town for many years and heard promises of this development, promises of that – all that changes is more waste land appearing and excuses why this can’t be done.

If the proposal to change the east end of the town with such a major redevelopment is considered, something similar at the west end would be a doddle – or am I again looking at this too simplistically?